Following an 11-8 victory for the Fairfield men’s lacrosse team and a 2-0 start, things we’re looking pretty good.
A week later, the Stags find themselves ranked 12th in the country and on a five-game winning streak to start the season, the best start in program history.
Sufficed to say, a “pretty good” start is an understatement.
The No. 12 ranking is the highest for any team in school history.
The highest the Stags had been in the polls was 15th in 2005, when they won the GWLL championship.
Head Coach Ted Spencer, while happy for the recognition, was quick to downplay the national ranking.
“I think it’s great. It’s gratifying to be recognized,” said Spencer. “But it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.”
The players echoed Spencer’s sentiment.
“It’s not to get some national recognition, but it’s not gratifying yet,” said senior goaltender Mike Kruger. “We’ve only won five games and we’ve still got a lot of work to do. But it’s nice to know that people are noticing”.
The defining moment of the week came in a convincing win over Bucknell, which had been undefeated and ranked 11th in the country.
The game was back-and-forth for the majority of the game, with both teams playing very competitively and trading goals early on. The Stags held only a narrow 5-3 margin at the half.
Bucknell came out of the half strong.The Bison scored twice midway through the third quarter and added another early in the fourth to take an 8-7 lead.
Finding themselves trailing late in the game for the first time all season, the Stags responded.
Led by senior captain Mike Bocklet ’07, who scored three of his six goals in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, Fairifeld went on an impressive 5-0 run to recapture the lead and secure an upset victory.
“Mike has been a top player for us for the last four years,” said Spencer. “It’s nice to see Mike get his due. He’s one of the hardest workers on this team. He’s a great leader and he deserves to have these good games.”
Bocklet’s performance earned him National Offensive Player of the Week by CSTV. He recorded 14 goals and seven assists in three games.
The Stags were paced all afternoon by attackmen Bocklet and Travis Nelson ’08, who both had one of their best weeks statistically in their Fairfield careers.
“We’ve been working really hard. It was [a win] the team really worked for,” said Bocklet.
Bocklet finished the game with five goals and an assist, and Nelson had three goals and three assists.
The strong showings from the veteran attackmen were a sign of things to come, as both continued their strong pace into the weekend match-up against Harvard. Fairfield won the game 18-11, securing an unprecedented 5-0 record.
Bocklet had five goals and three assists, finishing the week with 14 goals.
Not to be outdone, Nelson tallied four goals and four assists against the Crimson. He ended the three-game home stand with 17 points.
The players pointed to veteran presence as a large factor in much of the team’s early successes.
“We’re a much older team and have a lot of experience (this year). I think we were more prepared for big games and every situation,” said Nelson.
The week began last Sunday with a strong showing in a 14-10 win over Rutgers at Alumni Field. The win was Fairfield’s first in ECAC competition of the season.
For the first time all season, the Stags were not the first to score the first points, as the Scarlet Knights bounced on top with a goal with 6:38 in the first quarter.
From that point on, though, it was all Stags, as Fairfield went on a dominating 6-1 run and never looked back.
This Saturday, Fairfield heads to Happy Valley, Pa. to take on Penn State, a team that Spencer labeled “a rival” and who also defeated the Stags last season.
Spencer was quick to point out that the team has not let early season success and accolades get to their heads.
“We want to finish well, and that starts this weekend with beating Penn State,” said Spencer. “Right now, that’s all we’re thinking about.”
The Stags now embark on a three-game road series. Besides Penn State on March 24, they also play games against fellow ECAC teams Hobart on March 31, and Georgetown on April 7
“We (always) take it one game at a time. Right now our focus is on Penn State,” said Bocklet.
The next home contest is scheduled for April 14 against North Carolina. The game should be a close contest as both teams share the No. 12 ranking in the USILA poll.
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